The Role of Third Sector Organizations in Supporting Resettlement and Reintegration

A Mills, Rosie Meek

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

Third sector organisations (TSOs) have a long history of assisting people leaving prison to resettle and reintegrate into society. In the UK, Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Societies were officially established in 1862, and in the late 19th century, volunteers from the Church of England Temperance Society became police court missionaries, the forerunner to the modern probation service (Carey and Walker, 2002). Developments in New Zealand followed a similar pattern. The first Patients’ and Prisoners’ Aid Society (later to become the Prisoners’ Aid and Rehabilitation Society (PARS)) was established in Dunedin in 1877 and the first probation volunteers in New Zealand, linked to local branches of PARS, were licensed in 1913 (Tennant, 2007). TSOs now play a wide variety of roles in the resettlement process, from providing accommodation, training and employment services to substance misuse treatment, peer support and mentoring. This chapter will draw upon research and initiatives from England, Wales and New Zealand to discuss how TSOs can not only meet offenders’ practical resettlement needs but also help to develop their social capital and promote social reintegration. It will then briefly examine the potential strengths of TSO provision before exploring the challenges faced by TSOs working in resettlement and reintegration.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to Rehabilitative Work in Criminal Justice
EditorsPamela Ugwudike, Hannah Graham, Fergus McNeill, Peter Raynor, Faye Taxman, Chris Trotter
PublisherRoutledge
Pages595-606
Publication statusPublished - 2020

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